Acclaimed Good Will Hunting and Dune star Stellan Skarsgård agreed with filmmaker James Cameron that Netflix should not be able to qualify for the Academy Awards without a proper theatrical run.
Skarsgård revealed his position on the controversy during a red carpet interview with Variety.
“James Cameron was saying that Netflix movies should not be eligible for Oscars if they don’t have a full theatrical run. You’ve been in the movie industry a long time, do you think there’s a valid point to that?” asked Variety.
“That’s a valid point. Definitely. I mean, they should wait, because that’s the only way to make the theater survive and that’s the only way to make cinema survive, and without cinema, you don’t have any Netflix,” said Skarsgård.
As Breitbart News reported, Titanic director James Cameron not only announced his opposition to Netflix receiving Oscar nominations but called the streaming giant’s theatrical release strategy “rotten to the core.”
“They should be allowed to compete if they put the movie out for a meaningful release in 2,000 theaters for a month,” he said.
In 2019, Steven Spielberg said Netflix should only be considered TV movies.
“Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie,” Spielberg said. “You certainly, if it’s a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar. I don’t believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has given no indication it plans to amend its rules so that Netflix would need to have a longer theatrical run in order to qualify for Oscar consideration. Industry speculators have said that the streaming giant’s bid for the Warner Bros. Discovery studio might be its way into releasing movies in theaters without compromising its brand.
“Warner Bros.’ library offers a depth that Netflix cannot replicate organically within a reasonably short time frame across several pieces of IP,” Bank of America Global Research noted. “If Netflix acquires Warner Bros., the streaming wars are effectively over.”
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